The power of protest. The power of school children. Yesterday, MPs approved a motion to declare an environment and climate emergency.
UK Parliament declares climate change emergency https://t.co/O2A57MH3vi— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 1, 2019
🚨 The UK Parliament just became the first in the world to officially declare a "climate emergency".— Eric Holthaus (@EricHolthaus) May 1, 2019
“This is no longer about a distant future. We are talking about nothing less than the irreversible destruction of the environment within our lifetimes.” https://t.co/zpy2St98ms
BREAKING - UK MPs pass a motion to declare an environment & climate emergency. This has seen them start to #TellTheTruth about the climate & ecological crisis. They must now halt biodiversity loss, go net #ZeroCarbon2025 & create a #CitizensAssembly.pic.twitter.com/qXR7vEJwpG— Extinction Rebellion 🐝⌛️🦋 (@ExtinctionR) May 1, 2019
“MPs have passed a motion making the UK parliament the first in the world to declare an “environment and climate emergency”.— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) May 1, 2019
Historic and very hopeful news. Now other nations must follow. And words must turn into immediate action. #ClimateBreakdown https://t.co/9CUv7jt0gm
WE DID IT! Thanks to pressure from the Labour Party, the UK just became the first country to declare an environment and #climateemergency. Now it’s time for real action to tackle climate change. Share this. pic.twitter.com/hOheWxQQHf— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) May 1, 2019
.@ExtinctionR Youth Spokesman Felix Ottaway O’Mahony says the declaration of a Climate Emergency is a massive win but is just the beginning. #Peston pic.twitter.com/Y8zO3ErojN— Peston (@itvpeston) May 1, 2019
Today, the Committee on Climate Change – the independent adviser to government on climate change issues – says the UK must set a zero-carbon target for 2050, which would mean, amongst a gamut of other measures, the planting of an estimated 1.5 billion trees. Lord Deben, the chair of the CCC, said the zero emissions target for 2050 must be passed into law immediately:
We [must] do it now. The urgency is not just a matter of a shortness of time, but the quicker you do it, the cheaper it is. Recent events have shown how strongly people feel.
For some, including Mark Maslin, Professor of Climatology at University College London, the target is not urgent enough:
The zero-carbon target is essential, but the date of 2050 is too far in the future. The UK must adopt a 2030 zero-carbon target.
For one company in particular, any target is apparently meaningless.
The momentous, historic, if symbolic, events of yesterday did not go unnoticed by Aggregate Industries, one of the UK’s major polluters. The company planning a 2.5 million mile climate-busting haulage route across Devon thought yesterday would be a good opportunity to tell the world "From #climate to #circulareconomy, we are pioneers of best practice in #sustainability...". Pioneers? Really?
From #climate to #circulareconomy, we are pioneers of best practice in #sustainability, becoming the first company to be certificated to BRE BES 6001; the standard for the responsible sourcing of #construction products 👌 Download our policy https://t.co/6M9hsBJ8VZ pic.twitter.com/Oiys1doXYa— Aggregate Industries (@AggregateUK) May 1, 2019
The tweet provides a link to the company’s Sustainability Policy signed off by Guy Edwards, the company’s new CEO:
We are committed to tackling climate change. We are determined to reduce our emissions per tonne...
They are words that Aggregate Industries has uttered before, and words that have proved utterly meaningless. In 2006, AI had a clear message:
They didn’t. AI now emits nearly 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 each year – more than 3x the amount it did in 2006, and 5x the amount it did in 1999. Here are the results of its action on emissions per tonne too:
They didn’t. AI now emits nearly 1.3 million tonnes of CO2 each year – more than 3x the amount it did in 2006, and 5x the amount it did in 1999. Here are the results of its action on emissions per tonne too:
